England can win the 2014 World Cup, says Roy Hodgson
Last updated on .From the section Football
Roy Hodgson says it is not impossible for England to win the 2014 World Cup and vowed to "keep that dream alive".
Experts including record goalscorer Sir Bobby Charlton have written off England's chances in Brazil.
But boss Hodgson told Sportsweek on 5 live: "We're far from being favourites but you've got to shy away from 'impossible' in football.
"There are plenty of events in football that you could have said were impossible but people have done it."
England won their only tournament on home turf at the 1966 World Cup, but have not progressed beyond the quarter-finals of a major event since Euro '96.
Hodgson pointed to Chelsea's surprise triumph in last season's Champions League under caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo as an inspiration for England.
"It wasn't likely that Chelsea would become champions of Europe, especially having to change their manager mid-stream but they did it," he added.
"That was by beating Barcelona and Bayern Munich - two of the best teams in Europe, so I'd like to keep that dream alive."
Hodgson succeeded Fabio Capello as England manager in May 2012, guiding them through the group stage of the European Championship.
But they were outplayed by Italy in the quarter-finals before losing on penalties.
His team are currently second in World Cup qualifying Group H after four games, two points behind Montenegro.
Speaking before the start of the campaign in September, Charlton said he felt sorry for the England manager because the influx of foreign players in the Premier League means there is a shortage of English players to choose from.
It is an argument which Hodgson rejects.
"We have a lot of quality players - you could reel 30-40 players off the top of your head quite easily and add some of these young players who seem to have a very bright future in front of them," said Hodgson.
"I think the main problems are whether the main figures are available at the right time when you need them. Do we have enough competition in the really important positions in the teams?
"I hope I never get tricked into saying that we don't have enough players or there's not enough players good enough to play for England because that would be a very sad indictment.
"I know there are a lot of foreigners in the league but there are plenty of English ones. There were seven English players playing for Manchester United the other day and they're top of the Premier League."
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No one expects anything from us in these tournaments. That goes for the players too, with their rather lacklustre performances..
Nothing is stopping Scotland, Somalia, Bangladesh, Libya, Pakistan and Qatar from going to Rio to visit. Brazil, beautiful country and wonderful people.
I really believe that this is liverpools problem. there is too much expectation on some teams and as a unit, some teams seem to react badly to this expectation. United are the best at getting it done when the chips are down. If you look at their current team, on paper, it is the worst for some time. However, the way the team grinds out results is remarkable.
Eng/Liv need a lesson from Utd.
Could say the same of any side in it, and in fact we DO have a better chance than most because because we normally get out of the group.
He's not said we're the best team in it or anything of the sort.
As for all the foreigners using this as an excuse to have a pop, get your own broadcasting corporation and go away.
Why are mangers treating fans as more and more stupid every day?
Managers should be fined for bringing the game into disrepute when they make idiotic statements like this. Hodgson is embarrassing a nation.